2023/24
Meili Li, the world-wide first Chinese Countertenor to have an international career, enchants the public and the international presse with his "gracefully supple timber", his "versatile voice", his "furios outbursts full of perfectly sparkling coloratura" and with his "outstanding performing skills".
The 2023/24 seasons sees - among others - his theatre-debut at State Opera Hamburg in the title-part of ADONE in Salvatore Sciarrinos "Vernere & Adone" in stage direction of Georges Delnon and under the baton of Kent Nagano;
LICIDA in Vivaldi's "L'Olimpiade" with Irish National Opera Dublin, at Linbury Theatre of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the Theatre Equilibre in Fribourg (Switzerland);
Meili Li studied singing with Prof. Dengying Zhao at the Central Conservatory of Music, while he parallel was following a BA in Movie-directing and Philisophy at the Peking University.
Subsequently, he continued his singing-studies in the class of Michael Chance at the Royal Academy of Music and with Yvonne Kenny at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and obtaining his MA with distinction (DipRAM)
Sice then, commitments led him to major opera houses and international festivals: as SPIRITO in Monteverdi‘s „L’Orfeo“ to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, in the title part of ORFEO in Fay Kueen Wang’s WORLD-PREMIERE in the immersive opera „Orfeo“ to the Beijing Music Festival, as OBERON in Britten’s „A Midsummer Night‘s Dream“ to the Hungarian State Opera Budapest and the Theater Gießen; as ALESSANDRO in Händel‘s “Tolomeo, re d’Egitto“ to the International Händel Festival at State Theatre Karlsruhe; as PRELEUS in Fux's „La Corona d‘Arianna“ to the Styriarte Graz, the title role of in Vivaldi’s GIUSTINO to the Theater an der Wien in the Chamber Opera the title part of Händel’s TOLOMEO to Theater Lübeck; the titelrole of Händel's TAMERLANO to the Cambridge Handel Opera;
furthermore, he embodied MARCO FABIO in Händel’s „Lucio Papiro“ at the London Handel Festival, ALCASTO in Wilhelmine von Bayreuth’s „Argenore“ at Theater Münster, DARDANO in Händel’s „Amadigi di Gaula“ at State Theatre Meiningen, ORFEO in Gluck’s „Orfeo & Euridice“ at the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival in Lismore, RUGGIERO in Händel’s „Alcina“ at the Hamburg Chamber Opera; ASTRON in Michael Tippett’s „The Ice Break“ with Birmingham Opera Company and LIANG SHANBO in Mills’ „The Butterfly Lovers“ with Victorian Opera,; marking his debut in Australia.
In addition, he sang sang “New Year’s Concerts 2023” at Theater Ulm; covered CHERUBINO in Elena Lager’s and David Pountney’s „Figaro gets a divorce“ at the Welsh National Opera and LINCEO in Cavalli’s „Hipermestra“ at Glyndebourne Festival.
And in conservatorie’s productions, he sang the title-part of Stradella's SAN GIOVANNI BATTISTA and THE COACHMAN in Dove's „The Adventures of Pinocchio“.
Due to the Covid-pandemic, his debut as APOLLO in Britten‘s „Death in Venice“ at Theater Münster unfortunately had to be cancelled.
Concert commitments include among others appearences with works by Bach, Händel, Porpora or Vivaldi at the Gewandhaus Leipzig; under Maxim Emelyanychev at the Tchaikovsky Conert Hall in Moscow; with Norddeutsche Klangakademie Hamburg, and regularly with Shanghai Camerata.
Meili Li had the pleasure working with conductors and stage directors such as Patricia Bardon, Felix Bender, Alfredo Bernardini, Laurence Cummings, Margaret Faultless, Magdalena Fuchsberger, Sir John Elliot Gardiner, Vladimir Jurowski, Benjamin Lazar, Richard Mills, Rachel Dodger, Federico Maria Satellit, Aiden Schvarzstein, Kirill Serebrennikov, Graham Vick, Peter Whelan and Lawrence Zazzo.
European based Maili Li, is winner of the 2nd Prize and the Farinelli Prize at London Handel Festival Singing Competition.
Season 2023/24
